Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton (1) is tackled by Seattle Seahawks' Bobby Wagner (54) during the first quarter of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

So much for the Seahawks' quarterback controversy — at least 'til next week. Is anyone still clamoring for Matt Flynn after yesterday's 16-12 win at Carolina?

I suppose you could nitpick Russell Wilson for his somewhat off-target throws to Anthony McCoy and Marshawn Lynch that led to a pair of interceptions, one that was returned for a touchdown by Captain Munnerlyn.

And you could also say that if Cam Newton had made a reasonably easy throw to Ben Hartsock in the end zone, the Panthers could have won 17-16 and kept the QB controversy going. But Newton somehow short-armed the throw and short-hopped Hartsock on the fourth-and-goal play with less than 2:30 to go.

Instead, you're looking at a 3-2 Seahawks team as Wilson passed for 221 yards and came through on 3rd down over and over again, muffling his many critics. His last conversion was the biggest, giving the Hawks a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard TD pass to Golden Tate.

On the other side of the ball, they shined to the point that by this time tomorrow — if Houston allows more than 201 yards in the Monday night game to the Jets — the Seahawks will have the NFL's best defense.

Collectively, they're terrific — the Seahawks have allowed just 70 points in five games, an average of 14 a game. For two weeks in a row, they have not given up an offensive touchdown. The week before that, the high-powered Packers mustered only 12 points. And if you want to go back one more week, the Cowboys scored just seven points.

You saw all of the incredible individual plays yesterday, three of which stood out the most:

A one-man wrecking

crew, Brandon Browner stopped Newton on an option play, forcing him to pitch to DeAngelo Williams. Browner tackled Williams, caused a fumble and recovered it, setting up the go-ahead touchdown to Tate.

Richard Sherman stopped Jonathan Stewart after he crossed the yellow line and stripped the ball away. Stewart recovered his own fumble but fell on the ball short of the first down, forcing Carolina, trailing 13-10 at the time, to punt.

Then to cap the whole thing off, Bruce Irvin caused a Newton fumble that Alan Branch recovered to secure the win in the final minute.

Here's the craziest thing of all, according to the NFC West standings, they are the worst team in the division — Arizona and San Francisco are 4-1 while the Rams and Seahawks are 3-2, but the Rams have the tiebreaker because they beat the Hawks last week.

This supposedly worst team in the NFC West has the league's best defense, the league's best rusher and a quarterback who's on the rise.

As tough as the last four weeks have been, it gets more difficult with New England on Sunday, followed by San Francisco next Thursday night. The Patriots are the highest-scoring team in the NFL, and the 49ers have outscored their last two opponents, the Jets and the Bills, by a combined 79-3.

In the next 10 days, we'll learn a lot more about the Seahawks, but they certainly look the part of serious playoff contender thus far.